14 Spin Off • http://www.interweave.com
YOUR FINISHED OBJECTPattern and designer Classic Raglan Cardigan
by Barbara G. Walker. The smocking stitch pattern is
from A Treasury of Knitting Patterns (Schoolhouse
Press edition, 1998) by Barbara G. Walker, page 134.Fiber/preparation Six 4-ounce braids of fi ber
dyed by Hello Yarn. Each was a different breed:
Rambouillet, Falkland, Bluefaced Leicester,
Corriedale, Shetland, and South American blend.I folded each roving and broke it in half, then
split each half into 8 strips so that I had 16 strips
from each bag. I mixed all the fi ber strips ran-
domly into 16 “bundles.”Combo-Spin Cardigan By Lisa Fliss
Wheel system/spindle Kromski Minstrel,
double drive
Ratio 12:
Drafting method Worsted
Singles direction Z-t wist
Yarn 2-ply; 1,204 ypp; 13 wpi
Yarn classifi cation/ weight Sportweight
Total yardage 1,894 yards
Yardage used 1,400 yards
Needles U.S. size 4 (3.5 mm)
Gauge 22 sts and 28 rows = 4" in stockinette stitch;
30 sts and 28 rows = 4" in smocking stitch pattern
Finished size 39" chest measurement,
after blockingTell us a little bit about the making of your project.
I watched a YouTube video by Tracy Lew, The
Passionknit Spinner, in which she described her method
of preparing fiber for a combo spin. I decided I wanted
to use a sportweight yarn to make my cardigan, and I
chose a stitch pattern for the body that would work well
with a multicolored yarn. It took me about a month of
daily spinning to finish spinning all the fiber.
What was your inspiration for this project?
I came across an article by Debbie Held [“Coordinating
Handpaints: The No-Frill Method to a Cohesive
Spinning Mashup,” Spin Off, Winter 2017] that
discussed the combo-spin method, and after seeing
finished garments on Ravelry, I knew that I had enough
fiber to try this myself.What was your favorite part of this project? What
was the most challenging?
My favorite part of this project was seeing the colors
combine, both during spinning and knitting.
The most challenging part was spinning the various
strips of fiber. When I finished spinning a strip of
fiber, I randomly chose another strip, but often, I had
to change my style of drafting to accommodate the
different fiber. I quickly learned which fibers were my
favorites. Despite the fiber differences, when I plied
the singles, the finished yarn was cohesive, and it is
not obvious in the knitted fabric that I used fiber from
various breeds . ●Have a finished object to share? Tell us about it!
Contact [email protected] to submit your project.Photos^ by^ LisaFliss